Chapter 52: Preparing a Painting for Artemis!
Chapter 52: Preparing a Painting for Artemis!
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Promise looked at him and was puzzled to find that the man looked familiar, while Meleager's expression instantly became unpleasant.
"Uncle Toxeus, what are you doing here?" He said, and stepped forward slightly to stand in front of Promise.
"Of course, I'm here with a message from your father... By the way, kid, you really are alive and didn't die at the hands of that giant stag monster!"
As Toxeus spoke, he stepped forward, stretched out his hand and pushed Meleager away, standing in front of Promise.
He then raised his head and looked at the boy in front of him with contempt.
Seeing this, Promise suddenly remembered that this was the same arrogant man who had sought tickets for the Argo at the banquet before the hunting festival, and even acted as if giving him the ticket was Promise's honor.
"Meleager, is he your uncle?" Promise turned to look at Meleager and ask with some curiousity.
After all, he remembered that during the Calydonian hunting, Meleager was so angry for his crush that he killed his two uncles as a sacrifice to the gods.
Before the stunned Meleager could respond, Toxeus' expression turned ugly, as Promise's behavior was a typical show of disrespect.
"You little..."
In a fit of anger, Toxeus reached out to grab Promise.
But just then, with a swoosh, an arrow flew past his ear and embedded itself in a nearby pillar.
Atalanta, who was standing beside Promise didn't waste any time on nonsense and just drew her bow, shooting without any hesitation,
One time was just a warming...
Then, the next moment, she drew her bow again, aiming another arrow at Toxeus, her eyes cold and indifferent.
The predatory aura she exuded made Toxeus, a fellow hunter, instantly realize that if he took another step forward, she would really shoot him to death.
Just as his face turned pale, Promise intervened, pulling away the arrow out of Atalanta's hand. "Alright, Atalanta, there's no need to get worked up over this guy."
Although being looked down on didn't make him feel good, but..
Promise didn't want the two to start fighting and end up with Meleager killing Toxeus and ultimately being killed by his own mother, as fate had originally intended.
At the same time, Meleager stepped in front of Promise again, clenching his fists and glaring angrily at Toxeus, gritting his teeth, "Uncle Toxeus, if you have nothing else to say, please leave now!"
Hearing this, the dark faced Toxeus glanced at Promise and Atalanta, then looked back at Meleager, and said, "Meleager, you really disappoint me. I've been trying to reclaim the honor that rightfully belongs to you..."
"I've said it before, I don't need it, and it doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Promise!"
"Him?!" Toxeus laughed angrily, pointing at Promise. "Are you joking? Do you really believe that this weakling can hunt that beast? Meleager, wake up. It's obvious that you hunted that monster, and he just got lucky, reaping the benefits of your victory!"
Hearing this, Atalanta understood what was happening.
Unlike Promise, she had been wandering the continent since she was very young.
She had often seen men who were brothers one moment and killing each other for glory the next.
So she immediately understood that Toxeus, despite his words caring about Meleager, was acting out of self-interest and jealousy towards Promise.
After all, Hera's envoy and the winner of the hunting festival...
Thinking of this, Atalanta couldn't glanced at Promise.
As in first impression, she could understand Toxeus' disbelief.
After all, if she hadn't witnessed the boy catching the falling star in the face of death and hunting Actaeon turned into a giant stag, she too would doubt the legends and believe she could have done better than weak Promise.
However, just because she understood, didn't mean she would allow anyone to look down on him... even she ...
"Uncle Toxeus shut up. If you disrespect my friend again, I, Meleager, will challenge you to a duel in the arena!"
Meleager's words finally silenced Toxeus.
He stared at his nephew, clearly stunned that he would speak to him this way for an outsider.
"Fine, Meleager, very well... And you, although I don't know what your true intentions are, but it doesn't matter anymore!
Because tonight, the great goddess Athena will come to this kingdom, and she will choose the true hero to hunt that boar!
Meleager, you don't need to take them to see your father.
He's busy preparing for tonight's sacrifice and has no time to see you!" With that, Toxeus stormed off in anger.
Meleager's face changed slightly at his words.
He hurriedly assured Promise that his father would see them and would give him the highest honors for everything he had done.
Half an hour later,
Promise and Atalanta were in Meleager's room while the latter, looking worried, went to find
his father...
"Why do I get the feeling you're quite happy about this?"
After Meleager left, Atalanta sat beside Promise as usual, her green eyes looking at the boy,
who seemed more amused than angry, with a curious expression.
"Because, Atalanta, don't you think everything that happened today is just too
melodramatic?"
"Melodramatic?" The latter tilted her head in confusion.
"It means seeing cliched and poorly written plots often."
Atalanta thought for a moment and realized that it was indeed true.
"So, you're not angry?" she asked, puzzled, looking at Promise.
"Why should I be angry?" The latter replied, equally puzzled.
"But he kept belittling you... I thought you would kill him right away," Atalanta answered calmly, not finding anything wrong with what she said, as such things were commonplace in
that era.
After all, in an era where strength is justice and pettiness is a common problem, no one could face such disrespect.
Otherwise, events like the Trojan War wouldn't have happened.
Zeus, the god-king, who held no respect for any gods, got angry and brought destruction to Troy when they dared to disrespect God Apollo and Poseidon.
Well..let's not talk about the Gods who might kill and destroy people like ants at every turn and thought.. even heroes were too arrogant and demanded respect.
Respect is the basic courtesy one can give someone.
"Enough, enough, it's already melodramatic enough! Besides, killing him won't gain me anything. It would only make things awkward for Meleager and create tension in future meetings, which is pointless," Promise said, shaking his head.
"But you've done so much for your friend, and yet you're treated like this. Aren't you even a little angry?" Atalanta knew the whole story and was the only human witness to it.
At that moment, she genuinely felt that Promise was being mistreated.
Hearing this, the latter paused and looked at Atalanta, finally understanding the real reason
behind her discontent.
"If Meleager thought the same way, then even if I had an agreement with the goddess Clotho, I would still walk away now," Promise said, putting away his smile.
After a moment of thought, he answered Atalanta seriously, "But Meleager didn't. You saw it, too; he almost challenged his uncle to a duel.
Besides, others may not understand the significance of the goddess's sacrifice, but you,
Atalanta, should."
The sacrifice of the goddess Athena was scheduled to take place tonight.
She would come to the kingdom and select the one true hero to hunt the Calydonian boar.
Having witnessed Promise catch the silver meteor, Atalanta immediately understood who the hero would be upon hearing the news.
"It's like climbing a high mountain," Promise said, smiling again at Atalanta. "The mountain is tall, and many people think you can't climb it. So, at the beginning of your climb, you'll hear all kinds of ridicule and contempt around you.
Maybe at first, you'll think about climbing hard and humiliating them once you reach the top.
But as you climb higher, you'll realize how small they've become, and the scenery from the
top is so beautiful."
Well to put it simply...Promise wasn't a masochistic guy, he was just a true native of his country and even though his blood had changed after transmigration, his sould was still baptizes from the holy land...so as a citizen of Dra..Kingdom, he had that unsolvable ache to
see a classic a Face Slapping scene.
After speaking and seeing that she understood, he spoke..
"Oh, by the way, once my body can handle it, I'll have Pegasus take us up to the stars at
night," and pointed to the blue sky outside, boasting to Atalanta. "The starry sea under the night sky, where Pegasus ultimately reaches, is one of the most beautiful sights on Earth...
Wait!"
As he spoke, Promise suddenly stopped.
At that moment, it seemed like he had thought of something, and his eyes widened.
Then he frowned, lowered his head, and pressed his fingers to his chin, falling into deep
thought... "What's wrong?" After waiting for a while and seeing that Promise hadn't responded, Atalanta couldn't help but ask.
She then saw the boy slowly raise his head, his eyes filled with excitement! "Atalanta, I think I know... I know how to present that painting to the goddess Artemis!"